Department for Transport

Heathrow Airport: Railways

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect an announcement on the next stage of development of a southern rail link to London Heathrow Airport.

baroness sugg: The Department has begun working on the recommendations of the Market Sounding Findings Report published in December 2018 which found significant market appetite for financing and delivering a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow (SRLtH) but did not find a feasible proposal able to progress without Government support. We are committed to doing this work as quickly as possible, following which we intend to set out further engagement opportunities to all interested parties.

Airports: Unmanned Air Vehicles

lord fink: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure thatall UK airports and RAF bases are supplied with military grade drone detection equipment, and that trainingis provided to relevant police, military personnel and airport staff.

baroness sugg: Her Majesty’s Government takes the threat posed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to airports and other critical infrastructure seriously. Steps have been, and are being taken, to ensure that our airports have the appropriate measures in place. Given the sensitivities around military grade equipment, it would be inappropriate to comment further about these measures.

Large Goods Vehicles: EU Countries

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in a no-deal Brexit, they intend to issue European Conference of Ministers of Transport permits to UK lorry drivers; and if so, how many they plan to issue.

baroness sugg: The Government is issuing ECMT permits to UK hauliers. We have made legislation setting out how these permits will be allocated and hauliers have already applied for these. So far, we have allocated 984 annual permits to hauliers. There are a further 626 annual permits and 4,824 short-term permits that we can allocate to UK hauliers. However, we do not intend to rely on ECMT permits. The EU is close to agreeing a new regulation meaning UK operators will be able to carry out road haulage to EU Member States until 31 December 2019. This will allow UK hauliers to make most international journeys without a permit. ECMT permits would only be required for some journeys not covered by the EU regulation.

Aviation

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the UK aviation sector.

baroness sugg: Leaving the EU with a deal remains the Government’s top priority but we have a duty to plan for the alternative. Passengers can continue to book with confidence as the EU has provisionally agreed legislation, ensuring that flights will continue in a no-deal scenario. This gives UK airlines the rights to fly to the EU. The UK will reciprocate and provide, as a minimum, equivalent rights to Member States airlines. The European Commission has also provisionally agreed a Regulation which would provide an extension (for nine months) of the validity of certain safety certificates. The Civil Aviation Authority is preparing to take on the responsibilities currently undertaken by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in the event of a no deal, and are confident that these plans will be in place in time.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Seas and Oceans: Climate Change

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking with international partners to address the decline in marine oxygen levels linked to climate change and warmer seas.

lord henley: We work extensively with international partners to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which is the main driver of warming seas and declining marine oxygen levels.The UK is at the forefront of international action to tackle climate change. We played an influential role in securing the agreement of 195 countries to sign up to the Paris Agreement in 2015 and we remain fully committed to its implementation, as demonstrated by our instrumental role in the creation of a rulebook in Poland last year to bring the agreement to life.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish a Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere later this year, which will include an up-to-date assessment of changes in the ocean due to climate change, including marine oxygen loss and its impacts. Once published we will respond to these findings in due course.

BMW: Oxford

lord steel of aikwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with BMW about the future of the MINI manufacturing plant in Oxford in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

lord henley: Leaving the EU with a deal that supports the future of British industry remains the government’s top priority. The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing. With 4,000 staff in their Oxford plant alone, BMW is a hugely important company for the UK. BEIS Ministers and officials regularly meet with the company, to understand and support them in their planning. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW Board Member with responsibility for the UK spoke on 13 March.

Conditions of Employment

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement byLord Henley on 7 March, whether the proposed clauses on workers' rights for inclusion in the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill will include improvements to air quality and water quality both outside and inside the workplace.

lord henley: New EU legislation that provides workers’ rights which member states are obliged to confer will be covered by the proposed clauses. Workers’ rights include labour protections regarding health and safety at work. The Government will be required to report on those new rights, whether they go further than current domestic rights, and if so the action the Government proposes to take. Air and water quality standards are only in scope to the extent that they fall within the definition of workers’ rights. The Government has been clear that the UK will maintain and enhance environmental protections as it leaves the EU. As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government has set an ambition to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it found it – and has already put in train a number of policies to achieve this. The Environment Bill will be introduced early in the second Session of this Parliament, and will include ambitious legislative measures to take direct action to address the biggest environmental priorities of our age: air quality, nature recovery, waste and resource efficiency, and water resource management. In the Environment Bill the Government will legislate to ensure there is a robust framework for the maintenance and strengthening of environmental standards as the UK leaves the EU.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Procurement

baroness mcgregor-smith: To ask Her Majesty's Government whataction they are taking to ensure the principles of the Social Value Act 2012 are being properly embedded in all public procurement processes and contracts.

lord young of cookham: We are committed to using the strength of the Government’s £49bn annual purchasing power to drive social change.We are extending the requirements of the 2012 Social Value Act to ensure all major central Government procurements explicitly evaluate social value where appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it. This will provide a standard framework for key social outcomes and measures to be evaluated in tenders.Additionally, we will also require all departments to report on the social impact of major new procurements, and we will train all 4,000 commercial buyers to take account of social value and procure successfully from social enterprises.Furthermore, the Minister for Implementation announced a consultation at the Social Value Summit on 11th March on how government should take account of social value in the award of central government contracts, which closes on 10th June.

Department of Health and Social Care

Gambling: Health Hazards

lord chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spenton educational programmes for GPs on the potential health risks associated with gambling in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, and (4) 2018; and what plansthey have to increase the budget for such programmes.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Health Education England funds and delivers the GP Speciality Training Programmes as part of the Royal College of General Practitioners curriculum. The Government does not collect information on the amount of time and funding allocated to training on specific conditions or issues including gambling harms.

Anaesthetics: North Yorkshire

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of anaesthetists in North Yorkshire; and whether they consider that number is adequate.

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that sufficient staff to ensure patient safety are recruited for hospitals in rural areas.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 18 requires all providers of health and social care to provide sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times.It is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts and other health providers in England to ensure these staffing requirements are met taking into account local circumstances and professional judgement.The number of anaesthetists in North Yorkshire is not held centrally. However, in November 2018 there were 1,158 anaesthetists in Yorkshire and the Humber.The Department has started to roll out an extra 1,500 medical school places for domestic students, with the first 630 places taken up in September 2018. By 2020, five new medical schools will have opened to help deliver the expansion. One of the criteria for medical schools which applied for additional places was to demonstrate a commitment to sending more trainees to rural or coastal areas.

NHS: Finance

lord bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the increase to the current year's NHS budget in each of the next five financial years.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The following table shows the respective cumulative increase in NHS England's revenue funding, excluding depreciation, for the next five financial years as compared to the 2018/19 financial year, final settlement, cash terms.2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24£6.2 billion£12.4 billion£18.7 billion£25.4 billion£33.9 billion

Hormone Replacement Therapy

baroness corston: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide for the prescription of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy as part of NHS treatment.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: There are no current plans to make bio-identical hormone replacement therapy routinely available on National Health Service prescription. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the Agency responsible for the regulation of medicines used in the United Kingdom. There is a clear regime in place, administered by the MHRA, to enable medicines to be developed, authorised (licensed) and made available to patients in the UK. It is important that authorised medicines meet rigorous standards so that doctors and patients are sure of their quality, efficacy and safety.

Disinfectants

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what systems are in place to ensure the quality and efficacy of disinfectant products sold to NHS hospitals and the wider market.

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what processes exist to ensure that laboratories which approve disinfectant products for use in NHS clinical areas are accredited to do so.

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what stages products must go through to have their efficacy verified to receive authorisation to be sold and used in NHS clinical settings.

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they ensure that disinfectants used across the NHS are effective for the purposes claimed by the manufacturer; which NHS body is responsible for ensuring the veracity of such claims; and what responsibility NHS Supply Chain has to ensure the veracity of such claims.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Suppliers provide a wide range of cleaning and disinfectant products to the NHS through various NHS Supply Chain framework agreements.The NHS Supply Chain framework agreement specifications state that the standards and regulations for products submitted by suppliers must meet mandatory minimum quality requirements. On submission of products to NHS Supply Chain, suppliers are required to provide evidence of compliance to a wide range of standards as detailed in the specification, for example, market authorisation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) or European Medicines Agency (EMA) in compliance with the Medicines Act 1968 (as amended); or testing by an accredited laboratory.Where it is required that laboratory test reports are provided, and NHS Supply Chain have asked this of their suppliers, the NHS Supply Chain Technical Team would review the subsequent test data provided to ensure that the source of the data meets the requirements stated – for example, the data is from a United Kingdom Accreditation Service or equivalent accredited laboratory. Any concerns over the test laboratory’s capability and accreditation to perform the required testing to the standards required would be raised prior to a supplier being awarded to the Framework.These standards and regulations are determined following wide stakeholder engagement (clinical, direct supplier and wider industry) prior to the launch of a new tender and in the development of the specification document. A combination of laboratory reports, certificates, for example, the MHRA, and supplier declarations of conformity provide NHS Supply Chain with assurance that products meet the requirements of the specification.NHS Supply Chain contractually reserves the right to test the supplier’s goods at the supplier’s expense or request further information from the applicant to ensure the goods comply with the specification at any time during the procurement process, and, if awarded a contract, over the lifetime of the Framework Agreement. In the event that the product(s) do not meet the specification, NHS Supply Chain reserves the right to exclude the affected goods from the Framework Agreement.

Department for Education

Music: Curriculum

the earl of clancarty: To ask Her Majesty's Government which organisations were (1) asked to, and (2) did, bid for the contract to draft the new model music curriculum.

lord agnew of oulton: Three organisations were invited to bid for the contract to draft the model music curriculum; the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and Music Mark. ABRSM made an application, the other two organisations did not bid.

Citizenship: Teachers

lord hodgson of astley abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Agnew of Oulton on 23 January (HL12924), how many bursaries were provided to those who began training as citizenship teachers in 2018–19.

lord agnew of oulton: The department has provided no bursaries for citizenship trainees in the academic year 2018-19.

Schools: Finance

lord ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decrease in school spending per pupil in England on pupil educational achievement between 2009 and 2018.

lord agnew of oulton: Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) figures show that school funding was protected in real terms per pupil between 2010-11 and 2015-16, and protected in real terms overall between 2015-16 and 2017-18. The department is committed to protecting funding in real terms per pupil across 2018-19 and 2019-20, with core funding for schools and high needs rising from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £43.5 billion in 2019-20. The IFS figures also show that real terms per pupil funding for 5 to 16 year olds in 2020 will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000 and more than 70% higher than in 1990.The department have also introduced the national funding formula to distribute this funding more fairly. Since 2017, the national funding formula has given every local authority more money for every pupil in every school, while allocating the biggest increases to the schools that have been the most underfunded.Primary school children achieved their highest ever score in the most recent international reading tests in 2016. As at August 2018, 86% of schools have been rated good or outstanding, compared to 68% in 2010.Despite prioritising spending on schools and making the distribution of that funding fairer across the country, the department recognises that budgets remain tight. That is why the department is supporting schools and head teachers to make the most of their budgets and reduce costs on expenditures like energy, water bills and materials.

Ministry of Defence

Type 31 Frigates

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much UK steel will be used in the Type 31e frigate programme.

earl howe: It is too early to say what the steel requirement for Type 31e might be.The Government's steel procurement pipeline is published on gov.uk, most recently on 21 January 2019, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/steel-public-procurement

Type 26 Frigates

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to order the next Type 26 frigate; and whether it will be a batch order for five ships.

earl howe: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 29 November 2018 to Question HL11693.



Warships: Procurement
(Word Document, 27.19 KB)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether consideration will be given to extending the pilot replacement Seasonal Agricultural Workers (SAWs) Scheme to allow previous licensed SAWs operators to recruit sufficient skilled seasonal manual workers for the coming growing season.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Seasonal Workers Pilot is different to the previous Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme, which ran until 2013. The pilot will be run by two operators who will act as third party providers of labour. The Home Office have concluded that two scheme operators is the optimal number for managing this pilot. Defra ran a competitive selection process to select the two operators. The pilot is not designed to meet the full labour needs of the horticultural sector. Rather, the Government is seeking to evaluate the pilot’s ability to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods. We wish to assess fully this pilot before taking any decisions on future arrangements.

Home Office

Proscribed Organisations

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions members of organisations proscribed in UK legislation have been denied access to the UK to attend conferences organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

baroness williams of trafford: The information is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Borders: Irish Sea

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what physical arrangements would be necessary to provide a border between the EU and the UK in the Irish Sea.

lord callanan: The UK and the EU have been clear in the Political Declaration that we will seek to negotiate an ambitious economic partnership, including a free trade area for goods that facilitates trade through a new customs arrangement, deep regulatory cooperation, and avoids any tariffs or quotas.The Declaration recognises that the application of checks and controls between the EU and the UK would depend on the UK’s commitments, including in relation to the level of alignment with EU rules. Obviously we will need to agree the balance as part of the future negotiations.The Government has been clear, in all circumstances, we seek to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and we stand by all our commitments including the safeguarding of the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Sportsgrounds

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to work with relevant authorities to improve security and safety measures atfootball matches.

lord ashton of hyde: The safety of all those who participate in sport and attend sporting fixtures is a priority for government. Clubs and venue owners must take the necessary steps to put in place reasonable protection, both for players and spectators. Following the recent pitch incursions at Birmingham City FC and Arsenal FC, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority – the government’s expert body in sports grounds safety – will be working closely with clubs, local authorities and the police to learn the lessons and ensure robust plans are in place to prevent a recurrence.